The Mediterranean Diet as an antidote to obesity: Carruba and Paganini's new book offers "instructions for rebelling" and regaining balance.
In Michele Carruba and Pietro Paganini's new book, "Obesity: Instructions for Rebel," the Mediterranean Diet becomes a method of freedom and awareness to combat the silent pandemic of obesity and restore balance between body and mind.
The Mediterranean Diet as an antidote to obesity: Carruba and Paganini's new book offers "instructions for rebelling" and regaining balance.
Milano, Nov. 17 2025 – Obesity is no longer just an aesthetic or health issue: it is a silent pandemic which impacts public health, the economy, and collective well-being. A global phenomenon that, according to the FAO, has now surpassed the historical paradox of world hunger: Today there are more obese people than hungry people.
In Italy, data from Istat and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità speak clearly: 11,8% of the adult population is obese, increasing compared to 2022, while the 47% are overweight.
To denounce this trend, but above all to propose a way out, is the new book by Michael Carruba e Pietro Paganini, "Obesity: Instructions for Rebellion: The Mediterranean Way to Balance, Longevity, and Freedom of Choice" (preface by Letizia Moratti), presented today at Milano.
A title that is also a cultural manifesto: rebelling against miracle diets, imposed models and food obsessions, to rediscover the Mediterranean balance as way of life, not as a simple nutritional regime.
Obesity as a social and cultural disease
“Obesity – he explains Michael Carruba, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at the University of Milano and founder of the Center for the Study and Research on Obesity – is a complex and multifactorial condition that cannot be reduced to slogans or prepackaged recipes. Each individual has their own metabolic, psychological, and social history. Understanding these variables is the key to addressing the problem effectively.
The volume, in fact, does not limit itself to describing the physiological causes of weight gain, but analyses psychological, cultural and environmental factors that fuel this epidemic. Carruba denounces the superficiality with which public policies are often approached, from "sugar taxes" to simplified labels, to the trend of "ultra-processed" or "genuine" foods.
"The book dismantles the false food myths and health-conscious tendencies of our time," Carruba explains, "such as the phobia of fat and alcohol, the obsession with proteins, or the idolatry of authentic foods. It's time to restore centrality to knowledge and prevention, reintroducing food education as a subject of study starting from primary schools".
Prevention, knowledge and lifestyle: the real "cures"
Carruba insists on a key principle: obesity cannot be cured with just one tool, but an integrated approach is needed that unites drugs, psychology and knowledge.
"We have pharmacology at our disposal, of course, but also psychology, because it is the mind that drives behavioral change. Knowledge is also needed: knowing what we eat, understanding the value of food, and making informed choices. As with any other activity," the professor explains, "nutrition also requires culture and preparation. It's not enough to treat those who are already 50 or 100 kilos overweight; we need to act sooner." preventing disease with healthy lifestyles".
An approach that, in addition to saving lives, would have a huge economic impact:
"Every euro invested in prevention," Carruba reminds us, "saves at least 15 euros in future treatments. If we don't curb obesity, the national healthcare system risks becoming economically unsustainable."
Paganini: "Freedom of choice is the first form of health."
To complete the picture, the following intervenes: Pietro Paganini, policy innovator and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and at John Cabot University in Rome, who edited the sociocultural part of the volume.
“Obesity – explains Paganini – is not just about excess weight, but loss of balance between body, mind, and relationships. The Mediterranean Diet is a method for rediscovering it: not a list of recipes, but a way of life, based on exercise, conviviality, moderation, and knowledge.
The book aims to offer practical and cultural tools for free yourself from imposed models – the “state diets”, the social media fads, the lists of “good” and “bad” foods – and rediscover the freedom of conscious choice.
"You have to learn, understand, and decide for yourself what to eat," Paganini continues. "Only in this way can you build a healthy and lasting lifestyle, without falling into the traps of marketing or health obsessions."
The Mediterranean Diet as a legacy of balance and freedom
In the volume, Carruba and Paganini do not limit themselves to proposing a return to the Mediterranean Diet, but elevate it to universal model of balance and longevity.
A model that Italy is also trying to promote internationally:
“The Permanent Representation of Italy to the United Nations – recalls Paganini – has proposed to establish the November 16th is International Mediterranean Diet Day.. Furthermore, the Italian cooking she was nominated to become UNESCO World Heritage SiteIf the application is successful, it will be the first of its kind in the world."
Signs that testify how the Mediterranean food culture – based on seasonality, sociability and moderation – is now recognized as a global pillar of health and sustainability.
Rebel to live better
“Rebel” in the title of the book does not only mean opposing trends or commercial pressures, but rediscover awareness of one's body and mind.
A revolutionary gesture in a society of excess and standardization.
Carruba and Paganini invite you to a new food humanism, based on knowledge, freedom and balance: a cultural and social challenge, as well as a scientific one, to transform the Mediterranean Diet from a nostalgic symbol of the past to guide to the future of global health.
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